Weddings At a Funeral Home?

Would You Have Your Wedding in a Funeral Home to Save Money?

Tom Barlow
Jan 25th 2011 at 1:00PM



For many of us, the nicest place we'll ever spend a night is the funeral home where our friends and family pay their last respects. In an era where cremation continues to eat into the funeral home business, it's no surprise that purveyors are looking for ways to leverage their beautiful properties to increase cash flow. One surprising way? Host a wedding.

Or replace the term funeral home with community center, as some entrepreneurs have done. And why not? If you can get past the thought of what might be in the basement cooler, you're usually looking at a facility completely equipped for the festivities, a facility with lovely decor, great parking and plenty of mingling room.

Using a funeral home for other community functions is nothing new, according to a spokesperson for the National Funeral Directors Association, James Olson of the Lippert-Olson Funeral Home in Sheboygan, Wisc. Olson tells WalletPop that his facility, for example, has been used for charity events such as cocktail parties, for group meetings, murder mystery dinners and wedding receptions.

Local laws could also play a role in the use of funeral home facilities. Olson explained that, in some states, it is illegal to have food in a funeral home. So, in order to serve families that want to put on a spread after the funeral, those homes have built separate facilities. Once they have those facilities, it only makes sense to look for new ways to leverage them by making them available for banquets, family gatherings and ... weddings.

Is a funeral home wedding a rare occurrence? According to USA Today, the Community Life Center owned by the Flanner & Buchanan Funeral Centers, in the Washington Park East Cemetery is scheduled to host almost 100 weddings this year.

And the events provide a benefit to the host home beyond the rental fee. Olson said that by hosting people for more pleasant events, (and what is more pleasant than a wedding?) he hopes that they will remember his home in times of more dire need.

Do you get kinky in a coffin after the vows?